The quality of life in Thai senior table tennis players

Objectives

Participants

The participants were all Table tennis players (136 Table tennis players) those who registered for attending in the Thailand Master Table tennis Championships 2024 which hosted in January 2024 at Chiang Mai, Thailand. The three experienced researchers have been trained and practiced for the data collection protocol to ensure the research process quality. All the participants were collected the data before the competition began. Each participant spent about 30 minutes for completing the questionnaire (To-aj, Oam et al., 2024). All the participants were closely assisted by the research assistants regarding to the questionnaire explanation. All questionnaires have been proved by the researchers to confirm all items were answered.

Instrument

The questionnaire based on the measurement quality of life, WHOQOL which consisted of 4 dimensions: Physical Health, Psychological Health, Social Relationship, and Environmental Health. The instrument was measured using the five-items of the WHOQOL measured on a five-point Likert scale.

Analysis

Descriptive statistics, Pearson Correlation by using SPSS version 22 (https://www.ibm.com/spss).

Assessment of the senior Table tennis players’ quality of life in Thailand

The study found that a majority of respondents were male (61.03%). The average age of participants was 51.56 years, with ages ranging from 40 to 76 years old. The largest group (77.94%) fell within the 40-59 age range. Most respondents (58.82%) held a bachelor’s degree. In terms of employment, the majority (44.85%) were self-employed. Notably, a high proportion (87.50%) reported no history of illness. These details were further presented in Table 1.

The study investigated the quality of life using the WHOQOL-BREF Thai version. The average scores for the four dimensions were: physical health (26.35), psychological health (23.58), social relationships (11.07), and environmental health (29.32). The overall quality of life score was 97.79, suggesting a good quality of life for the participants. Details were presented in Table 2.

2. The comparison between the senior Table tennis players’ personal characteristics and the quality-of-life domains

The analysis of Pearson correlation coefficients between the quality-of-life dimension scores and the overall quality of life score revealed significant correlations (p < 0.01) between overall quality of life and all four dimensions measured by the WHOQOL-BREF Thai version: physical health, psychological health, social relationships, and environmental health. These findings were presented in detail in Table 2.

When considering the physical health dimension, it was found to be correlated with the psychological health dimension at a statistically significant level of 0.01. The Pearson correlation coefficient (r) was 0.704, indicating a high level of correlation, and they were a direct variation. When considering the social relationship dimension, it was found to be correlated with the environmental health dimension at a statistically significant level of 0.01. The Pearson correlation coefficient (r) was 0.708, indicating a high level of correlation, and they were also a direct variation. They were displayed in Table 3.

When considering the individual factors, the respondents working in private sector needed to be focused on. The study revealed that this group of respondents tend to have higher quality of life levels in the psychological health dimension, ranging from moderate to high, compared to other occupational groups with statistical significance (p <0.001***). The study also revealed that the respondents working in private sector tend to have a moderate level of quality of life in the social relationship dimension compared to other occupational groups. On the other hand, civil servants have a higher level of quality of life in the social relationship dimension compared to other occupational groups with statistical significance (p < 0.023*). Moreover, the same group tend to have a moderate and high level of quality of life in the social relationship dimension compared to other occupational groups with statistical significance (p < 0.038*). All details were demonstrated in Table 4.

Females had a higher mean (0.069) than males. The mean (0.052) for the 59 or underage group was higher than the 60 or over age group. The master’s degree or over education group (0.169) had a higher mean than both the Secondary school or under group and the Vocational Degree/Bachelor Degree group (0.469). Business owners and others (0.087) had a higher mean than farmers/civil servants (0.172) and company employees/state enterprise employees. Those with no illness (0.157) had a higher mean than those with illness.

Assessment of the senior Table tennis players’ quality of life in Thailand which was as follows

The study found that the most of them were self-employed. It is in line of Groessl et al. Results found that the average cost/participant was $1134 and $175 for the physical activity (PA) (Groessl et al., 2009).

Our analysis using the WHOQOL-BREF Thai version revealed the environmental health dimension had the highest average score (29.32) among the four quality of life dimensions. This aligns with Jolanki (2021) on senior housing fulfilling its promise of providing accessible physical and social environments. These environments encourage residents to be independent, physically active, and participate in social activities, ultimately promoting well-being and healthy aging. Similarly, Stenner et al. (2019) highlighted the continued importance of physical activity for some older adults, potentially contributing to improved health and well-being. It’s important to acknowledge risk factors as well. Seangpraw et al. (2020) identified factors like alcohol consumption and illness as significant stressors for the rural Thai elderly population.

The study investigated quality of life using the WHOQOL-BREF Thai version. Interestingly, the environmental health dimension had the highest average score (29.32). This finding aligns with Jolanki (2021), which suggested that senior housing that provides accessible physical and social environments can encourage residents to be physically active and independent while fostering social connections and a sense of security. Such an environment demonstrably supports well-being and healthy aging. Similarly, Stenner et al. (2019) found that sport can remain important for some older adults and may contribute to improved health and well-being in later years. Furthermore, Seangpraw et al. (2020) identified risk factors such as alcohol consumption and illness as significantly impacting stress levels among the senior population in rural Thailand.

The comparison between the senior Table tennis player’s personal characteristics and the quality-of-life domains which was as follows

Our analysis revealed a statistically significant correlation (p < 0.01) between the social relationship and environmental health dimensions. The Pearson correlation coefficient (r) of 0.708 displayed a strong positive correlation, suggesting that these dimensions directly vary together. This finding aligns with research by Jia et al. (2023) who identified a significant correlation between living arrangements, preferred living arrangements, and depression in older adults. Similarly, Pei et al. (2022) demonstrated that living arrangements play a crucial role in indirectly predicting depression through social support. Furthermore, Chen (2019) found that preferred living arrangements reflect needs, cultural norms, and current experiences. Their results support the hypothesis that concordance between preferred and actual living arrangements improves subjective well-being (SWB) in older parents, including reducing depressive symptoms and enhancing happiness.

The study examined individual factors and found that respondents working in the business owner/other tended to have higher quality of life scores in the psychological health dimension, ranging from moderate to high, compared to other occupational groups. This aligns with research by Dirzyte and Patapas (2022) who found that employees in private sector reported greater support, dignity, forgiveness, care, and positive practices, along with higher optimism scores, compared to public sector employees.

Ethics and consent

This research was ethically approved by the Office of the Committee for Research Ethics (Social Sciences), Faculty of Social Sciences and Humanities, Mahidol University with the approval number 2023/205.3011. The Committee of Research Ethics (Social Sciences) is in full compliance with International Guidelines of Human Resource Protection such as declaration of Helsinki, The Belmont Report, and CIOMS guidelines. Written consent was obtained from all participants involved in this study. They were clearly instructed about the project and informed that the collected data would be used for publishing the findings. Participants were also given the opportunity to withdraw from the study at any time. However, none of the participants chose to withdraw and they continued until the completion of the study.